How to dock in Starfield

Being very much a game you play your own way, a lot of tricks in Starfield are taught early on. You're shown how to dock in Starfield as you follow the main storyline. But if you go off the beaten track or simply forget by the time the next opportunity comes along, you'll struggle to work it out on your own.

With some many other space-faring skills able to be employed and mastered in Starfield, remembering the intricacies and limitations of each can be hard. There's a lot to do, and that results in cluttered keybinds and convoluted menus, complicating methods the rare moment you actually need to follow through with them.

If you're having trouble with any other aspect of the game, we've likely got a guide for that. Here's how to increase carry capacity, how to craft, and how to invert flight controls. There's even an easy way to get XP fast in Starfield so you can quickly grab the skills to make your build sing.

How to dock in Starfield

To dock in Starfield, you need to activate the right HUD when flying. Without it, you won't see the option to connect your ship to the space station or enemy ship you're attempting to travel to.

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Rather than use the scanner HUD used to land on planets or survey ships, you need to use the 'Select Target' keybind when you're close enough to the target. The default key should be E.

Using this will show the 'Dock' and 'Hail' options and their corresponding keybind. Holding the key for the former will automatically dock your ship, allowing you access to the connected vessel.

Why can't I dock an enemy ship?

To dock an enemy ship, you need to first deal enough damage by blasting down their shields and, in turn, their thrusters. Once the ship is damaged enough and unable to move, just get close enough and use the Select Target keybind to show to the Dock command.

For more Starfield, check out some community stories. A part of the game includes a moving tribute to a fan who sadly didn't live to play it. And despite most early reviews painting a picture of this being Bethesda's most polished game to date, streamers have already encountered a bunch of strange and hilarious bugs you can see here.